Rochdale Defeat Won’t Derail Millwall

Millwall manager Neil Harris has described the Rochdale result as a ‘disappointment’ and a ‘setback’ but he was adamant it wouldn’t detract from our Championship campaign.

Heading to Spotland for the FA Cup fourth round replay, Millwall lost out one nil on the day on an incredibly sandy surface and the hosts dealt with the pitch better than we did ultimately.

Speaking to the official site as he met with the media post game, Harris explained.

‘Firstly, congratulations to Rochdale. They played the conditions much better than us tonight. My players didn’t really get used to the pitch. I have no complaints with the result whatsoever. With regards to my time in charge, that’s a bit of a low, but I’m not going to let that derail how well we’re doing this season at the moment.’

He went on to say.

‘Other than a couple of defensive blocks and goalmouth scrambles, there were no chances in the game bar their goal. At half-time, I said there would be one mistake, one moment of quality or one hero that would win the game, and they obviously produced that.’

Harris turned the press conference towards thoughts for the Friday night tie against Cardiff City and although our Cup run could’ve lasted a touch longer, he knew the Championship was our bread and butter and had to be the focus.

‘It’s a disappointment, it’s a setback, but we now move on to Friday. We’ve let ourselves down a little bit over these two games and it would’ve been nice to have played Spurs or Newport, but we move on to Cardiff. We now make sure the players get the right recovery with the quick turnaround. My players are disappointed – they know they haven’t performed. Sometimes you just have to say well done to the opposition.’